Event in Brief

Rwandan airports are set to reach the 1 million visitors per year, with the state-owned airline RwandAir to include new destinations like Addis Ababa, New York and several cities in Italy next to their new long-haul flights to London and Mumbai. All of that without including the finalisation of the New Bugesera Airport, of which first phase completion is due by the end of 2019 and which is expected to host 1.9 million passengers a year. The country is a fine example of the improvements in the African continent regarding air transportation expansion.

Air transportation has become essential to overcome vast and challenging territories like the African continent`s, and is expected to grow in passenger numbers by 4.7 per cent per year to reach 294 million by 2034. Although it currently only means a bit more the 2 % of the global market.

The rise of the economic development in African regions, having six out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world- namely Ghana, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Senegal and Tanzania-, boosts the movement of individuals to the continent, whether for tourism or for investment purposes. Consequently, more than nearly a hundred airport projects are expected to be developed in the future years all over the continent to satisfy this transportation need.
However, the airport sector is filled with challenges to be tackled both by administration and airport managers, from efficient planning and budgeting of a new airport, a refurbishing or an expansion, to looking for sustainable financing and successful PPP models. Add to that the constant technological advancements and current threats that demand airports to be up-to-date in facilitating secure, safe and smooths trips for their passengers.